San Francisco 49ers DVOA, Stats, & NFL Rankings

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (chest) is expected to return as soon as he's eligible in Week 5, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. The first-round rookie is currently on the non-football injury list after being shot during an armed robbery attempt. Garafolo notes that Pearsall was back in the facilities and wanted to play in Week 1 against the Jets, but the 49ers opted to sideline him for four weeks by placing him on the non-football injury list. In his absence, Jauan Jennings is headed for the No. 3 role in San Francisco and could see additional opportunities if Brandon Aiyuk is limited on Monday night.

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Demarcus Robinson will open the season as the third wideout in this offense. He's set to start behind Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua during the season opener against the Detroit Lions. The 29-year-old beat out Tutu Atwell for the third wideout spot in camp, but he probably won't have a significant role. Both Kupp and Nacua figure to see the bulk of the targets. Last season, Robinson finished with 26 receptions for 371 yards and four touchdowns. There is still some big-play potential here, which makes Robinson a possible WR4 in deeper leagues.

San Francisco 49ers kicker Jake Moody will open his sophomore season with a Monday night home game versus the New York Jets. Moody finished his rookie season in 2023 tied with Atlanta's Younghoe Koo as the K17 in fantasy points per game. Moody and Koo took very different routes to those numbers, though. Moody only attempted 25 field goals to Koo's 37. The difference was made up in extra points, as Moody led the league in the category and set a record with 53 straight. Lack of opportunity aside, Moody does have room for improvement in his accuracy; he recorded an 84% last year, which was near the bottom of the league. The Jets defense is expected to be stout but if their defense is anything like last year's, the 49ers should be able to move the ball on the ground at least. The weather in Santa Clara on Monday night is expected to be near-perfect. Moody is a back-end fantasy starter in Week 1.

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle will open his eighth NFL season when the team hosts the New York Jets on Monday night. The former Iowa Hawkeye had another successful season in 2023, finishing with 1,020 yards on 60 catches and six touchdowns, which earned him the overall TE5 slot in half-PPR. While the Jets were elite against the pass last year -- ranking second-best in the NFL in passing yards -- they were ordinary at preventing TE fantasy production (13th). While Kittle may have been pushed down in ADP this year by younger dynamic tight ends like Detroit's Sam LaPorta and Arizona's Trey McBride, Kittle is still worthy of starting lineups when healthy. Roll with Kittle in the middle of the TE1 landscape this week.

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk will open the 2024 season at home versus the New York Jets vaunted pass defense on Monday night. The 26-year-old comes into the game fresh off a four-year $120 million extension inked just over a week ago after a long holdout which caused Aiyuk to miss all of camp and the preseason, though he did attend meetings. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said during a Saturday presser that Aiyuk is in good shape, but because of the demand of the wide receiver position, he will probably play a little less than usual. Aiyuk managers with other WR/FLEX options may want to consider benching Aiyuk this week, especially since the Jets pass defense ranked 2nd in the NFL in yards allowed last year and are returning most of their key players. There will probably be weeks this season when Aiyuk projects as a back-end WR1, but this week isn't one of them. Consider him an upper-edge WR3/FLEX for Monday.